Flipkart races past Amazon, sells 15.5 million units

After claiming to make history in the Indian e-commerce by crossing 1400 crore in a single day, home-grown major Flipkarthas zoomed past arch-rival Amazon in terms of number of units sold during its festive season sale, which ended on Thursday, October 6.

The company recorded unit sales of 15.5 million compared with 15 million units for the US-based online retailing giant

The company recorded unit sales of 15.5 million compared with 15 million units for the US-based online retailing giant, Amazon. Flipkart’s numbers include those for its fashion portals Myntra and Jabong.

This against Snapdeal, that sold over 11 million units during its Diwali sale, making it take the third slot in the e-commerce race.

“We have had a flawless Big Billion Days this year. Starting from marketing, merchandising to supply chain and technology, all teams came together to deliver and the results have been stunning. Some of the key landmarks of the sale was when we made a history in the Indian e-Commerce by crossing 1400 crore in a day, ” CEO, Flipkart, Binny Bansal told Indiretailing Bureau.

The company said that categories like Smartphones and televisions helped it boost the value of goods sold on the platform. Flipkart said that it has sold 2.25 million smartphones during these five days.

“We have sold more smartphones in these five days as compare to the entire sales of mobile phones in India in a week. Also the LED televisions sold on Flipkart in five days exceeded the entire sales of LED TVs by organised retail in 45 days,” the company said.

Flipkart’s numbers and performance are significant for the company, which had bet on BBD to revive sales growth and was was struggling to retain its position and market share from last few months from Amazon. While the company didn’t share the exact sales number, the amount of units sold in five days make it a clear winner.

For this year’s BBD apart from deep discounts, the company readied a no-cost EMI payment option for high-priced items and product exchange schemes to persuade customers to buy more.

It also invited loyal buyers to an exclusive preview, showcased larger range of exclusive deals on smartphones, revamped its mobile and desktop interface and hired 10,000 temporary staff to ramp up its delivery and logistics service to meet the festive demand.